


Dragon In Captivity

by NullanyThorm



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Chapter 100+ Spoilers, M/M, Manga Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-05
Updated: 2016-07-18
Packaged: 2018-04-19 03:55:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4731992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NullanyThorm/pseuds/NullanyThorm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As Yona and the gang are posing as a bandit group in the Fire Tribe, Zeno is captured by Fire Tribe soldiers. Taken to Hiryuu Castle for questioning, he winds up kept under castle arrest, as it seems Soo-won has some use of him. How will he escape to reunite with the rest of the Hungry Bunch, especially when fighting memories of his King every time he looks Soo-won in the eyes?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Captured

**Author's Note:**

> So, I know this is a bit of a weird ship -- but let's roll with it, shall we? This fic is based off of an RP thread between myself and a close friend of mine on Tumblr which pretty much made me start shipping this. Shout out to my wonderful Soo-won (you know who you are), and I hope this fic goes over well.

_Crash!_

Zeno definitely felt the collision as he fell face-first to the ground. In fact, he’d probably be feeling it tomorrow, too. He glared down the tree root he’d tripped over as he got up, getting a look around. He’d ran away a good ways, but he could still hear the soldiers chasing after him. Well, if nothing else, he’d helped the others get away as a diversion.

It wouldn’t matter if he was caught, anyway. Still, the farther away he could get the better, so he kept running. He wanted to make sure that the others would be a long ways away by the time he was caught, if he couldn’t find a place to hide.

He heard the soldiers thundering forward, amazed they’d been able to catch up to him so easily. He felt a hand on his wrist -- and not comfortably either. He let out a yelp as he was pulled backwards with so much force he’d nearly fallen again.

“Ah, be gentle with Zeno, sir! He’s not dangerous, promise!”

There was no response except the tightening of a soldier’s grip, before restraints were slapped on him. Well, at least to the childrens’ credit -- they weren’t falling for his childish act so easily. His eyes locked onto the Fire Tribe soldiers that had caught him, though they seemed to be ignoring him for the most part, more worried about talking amongst themselves.

“What about his friends? The witnesses from the village said the full group was there. This kid definitely matches the description of one of them, but there should be six others.”

“Maybe he was a diversion or something? Should we check the outlying area?”

Well, they could try. Between Hakuryuu’s strength and Rokuryuu’s flight, though, they probably managed to carry everyone a safe enough distance away by now. There was no catching up with them, since the soldiers took their time catching him instead.

“What should we do with this one?” The soldier that said that one gave Zeno a rather hard nudge that was really more of a kick. Well, he was glad he healed quickly or he’d be feeling that one for a while.

“He’s just a bandit, and we’ve already got him restrained. Just kill him.”

Uh-oh. Uh-oh, Uh-oh, Uh-oh.

Were they even allowed to do this? Well, maybe. He wasn’t sure how things worked these days. He had a hard time keeping track of changes in the law and such. Though, he was pretty sure this was the soldiers taking the law into their own hands. Well, he guessed right now, this was actually the best case scenario. It would give him an opportunity to break free of the restraints, if nothing else.

“I don’t know… He seems like a normal kid. Sure we got the right one?”

“He matches the description we managed to get from the villagers. We’re not running any risks here, kill him.”

Zeno braced himself. These soldiers were about to let loose a monster. The blade was drawn, and the soldier lifted it over his head. It would never come down, however, Before it could, a familiar voice interrupted the action.

“Men! I told you I need help ” It was the young lord Zeno knew well. He’d been coming into the village they’d been inhabiting for the past couple nights or so, apparently in attempts to “capture the bandits plaguing the fire tribe”. He’d changed his tune quick though, when he learned the true nature of the bandits -- and grew a little.

Though, if these men were under his control, then…

“Lord Tae-jun, this is a member of the Hungry Bunch! He matches the description given by the villagers. We heard they’d been camping nearby, and managed to catch one of them before he could escape. We were going to kill him to make an example...”

“Er, that… That won’t be necessary.”

The group of soldiers looked at the boy, their leader, completely dumbstruck. Even Zeno had to admit, with the look on Tae-jun’s face, it seemed that he was making all this up as he went along. Zeno couldn’t help but wonder what was going to come out of the kid’s mouth next.

“Well...” There was a pause, and Zeno couldn’t help thinking ‘if you’re going to lie your way through this, at least make it convincing’. “He might have information! If you only caught one, then he might know where the others were. We should take him in for questioning.”

Well… Okay, that one was pretty good. Though, Zeno was still in a rather tough situation. He made eye contact with the kid for a quick moment before turning away. He was a bit embarrassed, if he had to say. Though, he was technically the weakest member of the group, so perhaps it wasn’t too strange for him to get caught.

“That’s well and good, lord Tae-jun,” commented the shorter soldier that Zeno took to be the young lord’s personal bodyguard or something of that sort, “but have you forgotten you’re banned from Saika until we catch these criminals? We can’t just bring in one.”

“All the more important then,” commented Tae-jun, seeming to get a hang of this ‘lying’ thing, “We have to round up the others before we even think of killing him. I don’t want a corpse with us until we catch the others.”  

The soldiers all seemed to be nodding in agreement at that. Well, at this rate Zeno wouldn’t have to worry about using his powers against soldiers of his own kingdom, at least. Though… Now he was captured, and wasn’t exactly sure what to do from here.

“Well, we can’t go to Saika,” it was the same soldier, who seemed to be on good terms with this young lord, “Your lord father and brother have forbade it. So how are we going to get the information from him?”

“We’ll take him to Hiryuu Castle, then. I hate to bother the king with it, but we have an actual member. They can’t ignore it. At the worst, questioning him will be delayed a little while.”

The soldiers argued plans back and forth, Tae-jun meanwhile trying his best to come up with lies and ways to avoid any plans that involved the killing or elongated detainment of the currently captured dragon. Meanwhile, Zeno watched all this, taken with the child’s ingenuity.

In the end, they decided on the young lord’s plan and saddled up, Tae-jun sending a messenger ahead of them to alert the castle they had a fugitive they’d be bringing with them for detainment, and keeping a few others around to search the area for the others, probably praying just as Zeno was that they’d managed to get away.

“You must have the gods on your side,” Tae-jun whispered as he got situated with Zeno on one of the horses, something which had taken some real arguing from the young lord to convince his soldiers to let him do.

“Ah, well… You really saved Zeno back there, mister,” he whispered in response, knowing full-well that it probably would have been easier for him if they  _had_  tried to kill him.

“Yes, well… It’s only going to be worse for you from here, you know. You got lucky, kid, but not that lucky. At best you’ll be detained for information, at worst you might still be killed.”

“Well, Zeno’s prepared for that,” he commented quietly in response, trying to make it seem like they weren’t making conversation as much as possible, “After all, he’s not going to be telling anyone about the miss and the others.”

“Well, that’s a mature outlook for a kid, but I’ll try as best I can to cover for you. Yona would be sad if you died, after all...”

“You really care about the miss!” Zeno couldn’t help giving a small laugh as quietly as possible, noticing that the young man riding in front of him was trying to hide his scarlet face.

“Quiet, you...” The boy grumbled, and afterwards seemed to come to a realization. “How did you get caught, anyway? Sure you’re just a normal kid, but you’ve got those monsters looking after you right?”

“You see… That’s the thing...”

_~*~* A few hours earlier *~*~_

“We… Might want to get out of here. Like…  _Now_.”

Rokuryuu landed in the middle of the camp after his recon. They’d only just left the latest village and were taking a break for lunch, so everyone was surprised when he suddenly said that.

“We just unpacked the things for lunch, Jae-ha!” came Yun’s usual mothering, “It’d take a while to pack everything away, even with the seven of us going as fast as we can.”

“Well, we might want to try,” the Rokuryuu quipped, “Soldiers are heading this way, and it looks like they might know we’re here, or at least in the area.”

“Eh!?”

It was a general response from everyone. The group quickly hurried into a fuss, getting everything gathered up. It was a real mess, and by the time they’d packed up, they were already hearing the soldiers marching towards them.

“They’re already here!?” Yona exclaimed, completely taken aback.

“Why did you think I said we need to get out now?” Jae-ha quipped back, “That being said,  _let’s go_?”

The soldiers were in vision now, and the group was quickly trying to pick up their bags and get out. Shouts of  “There they are!”, “Catch them!”, and other such things intermingled with the Hungry Bunch’s own distressed conversation.

“We can fend off these soldiers no problem!” Hakuryuu commented, holding up his dragon arm, “Let me hold up the rear and deal with them!”

“Those are Tae-juns soldiers!” Yona commented, denying Hakuryuu’s request, “They still think they’re looking for bandits right now, we can’t just fight them. They’re doing so much good right now.”

“They’re probably acting behind Tae-jun’s back...” Yun seemed to contemplate, “They probably don’t know he’s actually friendly with the Hungry Bunch, and want to go back to Saika, right?”

“ _Hide!_ ”

Zeno interrupted the group’s conversation to push them past a set of bushes, to a place that would be out of view of the soldiers. Before he could dive in himself, though…

“I see one of them!”

“Wellp, that’s no good,” he commented shakily, “Looks like Zeno has to run!”

“Eh!? But Zeno, you don’t have any powers!” Hakuryuu commented, with Seiryuu nodding along, both seeming worried about him.

“Are you going to be okay, Zeno-kun?” This time it was Rokuryuu.

Zeno smiled, waving their comments off. He was glad they were worrying about them, and understood their reasoning. After all, they didn’t know much about his power as Ouryuu.

“It’s fine.”

“You’re going to get caught,” Hak quipped back to him.

“Zeno will be fine, trust him,” he commented, making sure the others were hidden and getting ready to run, “It’s best that the miss and everyone are safe. Besides, they’ve already seen Zeno, so there’s no point in trying to hide. Trust Zeno -- everything will be okay, even if Zeno is caught. Right now it’s more important for everyone else to stay hidden.”

With that, he dashed off in the first direction he could think to go, occasionally glancing backwards to make sure none of the Hungry Bunch came out of hiding. The soldiers were right on his tail -- if he was able to run far enough, they could get away before the soldiers could find them again, even if they caught him. With an intake of breath and steeled determination, he kept running as far as he could. Until….

_Crash!_

_~*~* Present *~*~_

“That’s pretty much what happened.”

Zeno had tried to tell the story as quickly as possible, while at the same time trying to not to alert the soldiers to the fact that he and the young lord he was riding with were friendly.

“You…  _really_? How can one child be so lucky and unlucky at the same time?” The boy commented, completely dumbfounded.

Honestly… Zeno wondered the same thing, himself, sometimes.

“That’s a question for the gods, mister. Zeno thinks they like playing games with him, at this point.” In more ways than one.

“Well, either way… This whole situation is amazing,” the young lord commented with a sigh, “After figuring out the truth behind the Hungry Bunch… I didn’t think I’d actually be bringing one of you in.”

“The heavens work in funny ways, mister!~”

“You’re awfully optimistic for someone who may very well be dead soon..”

“Well, Zeno’s only redeeming quality is his optimism after all!” He gave a lighthearted laughs in attempts to add some levity to the situation, but the lord simply went quietly. Perhaps it was for the best, so they didn’t give away the fact they were talking.

They rode for a while. It felt like days, but Zeno never was good with time so it was hard to say. At least one night, probably more, passed before they finally reached the castle. It was almost completely silent. There may have been some occasional banter between himself and the young lord, where they could sneak it in, but nowhere near as much as the first day of their little trek.

When the finally did reach the castle though, Zeno swore his heart skipped several beats at the sight of it. Hiryuu Castle, a place he hadn’t returned to for at least two thousand years. His heart tightened only at the thought, and just the sight of the gate brought memories of his departure, as well as the goodbyes of his dragon brothers. Would he be able to handle this?

“I’ve brought a bandit in for questioning!” Tae-jun went into authority-mode the moment they reached the gates. “We think he might have information on more bandit groups, namely one causing trouble in the Fire Tribe we suspect him to be a part of.”

The soldier at the gate gave a salute in greeting. “Lord Tae-jun! The king and Sky General are out for business at Chi’shin. We got your messenger, though, and sent him to inform them. Things have been busy, and no one with the authority for questioning is in right now.”

“Hm… Do you know how long it will take?”

“Well, that depends on how long it takes them to get here. For now, just keep him in the dungeons.” The soldier had the gates open as he spoke, and Tae-jun gave a small nod in acceptance, as he and his company strode through.

“Of course, we’ll await his return here, then -- if that’s alright.”

“That should be fine, sir.”

The group quickly moved through the gates. Tae-jun tried to convince his soldiers to allow him to take Zeno down to the dungeons, but of course they refused, and a group of soldiers decided to take him. Tae-jun had little choice but to listen -- as they were just looking out for his well being. As he pulled Zeno off the horse though, they had one last conversation.

“I hope things turn out favorable. I don’t want Yona to wind up upset with word that you’d been killed after being captured.”

“Zeno will be fine, Zeno thinks. Either way, things can only go as the gods will it at this point.” He flashed a small smile, and the young lord wasn’t able to say anything in response, as the soldiers instantly took Zeno by his restraints, pulling him off towards the dungeons.  

Honestly, he preferred the thought of staying in the dungeons. It was a part of the castle he hadn’t seen much, and probably wouldn’t hold too many memories for him. He was kind of happy to be alone to sort out his thoughts and gather himself. Once the king and general came back, he’d be questioned, and he had to be ready for that. He absolutely couldn’t give anything away about the miss.

The soldiers practically threw him into the cell he’d be staying in for who knew how long. They were a good bit rougher than they probably needed to be -- he’d prefer they’d allowed the young lord Tae-jun to bring him here.

“We’ll be keeping an eye on you, so no funny business.”

“What kind of funny business are you expecting? Zeno’s weak, he knows better than to try to fight his way out.”

“Well, whatever.”

Ah, these kids weren’t too eloquent when it came to dealing with criminals, were they? Zeno sighed, leaning back onto the wall of the cell he was being kept in, and looking down at the restraints he was being placed in in. Well, there was definitely no breaking these for him.

The soldiers soon finished making sure he was adequately restrained, leaving and closing the door to the cell, a few of them staying to keep guard as the others left, probably to report.

He was in for a long wait, he knew that much.


	2. The Wait's End

He was right when he thought it would be a long wait. It was at least three days that he was trapped in that cell. The restraints were painful, and he didn’t have much room to move because of them. Though, he supposed that was the point. Also, due to his being treated as a criminal, food was withheld from him by the guard for as long as possible.

He’d gone without eating before, but perhaps being with the Hungry Bunch had spoiled him a bit. True there were times they didn’t have food, but when they did it was always amazing. Besides that, they weren’t usually short on food for this long.

Besides that, he was still being questioned throughout the time frame. The soldiers were insatiable when it came to information, even though they couldn’t do much without someone in authority being there.

“What’s a kid like you doing in a bandit group anyway?” One of the guards had asked, not seeming to want to believe that Zeno was a “bandit”. Technically he wasn’t, but that was beside the point. “If you’re as harmless as you say, it seems a bit strange.”

“Well, Zeno’s kind of the newest member,” he commented, a childish edge in his words. “He didn’t have anywhere else to go, so he joined up.”

“Just a kid mixed up with a bad group, huh..” he heard another guard muttering under his breath.

Well, if he could give off that impression, maybe there was hope. He couldn’t be sure, but at the very least he could manage to seem as harmless as possible, maybe he’d be let off the hook. At the very least, after that question, they seemed to think it was alright to feed him.

“Why would they just let a kid join up, though?” The same guard that had asked him the question previously had asked, “Bandits aren’t exactly altruistic enough to just take kids off the streets.”

Zeno chuckled as he heard the guards talking about what he’d said. Perhaps he’d confused them a bit with his statement, but at the same time he knew they’d believed him to an extent. He was perfectly harmless, hardly fought back when they caught him, and wasn’t exactly trying to fight right now. The most fighting he was doing was trying to make himself as comfortable as possible in these restraints -- which was pretty difficult.

“You know,” he commented after hearing them arguing about why he was a “bandit” for at least a day straight, “Zeno doesn’t mean to interrupt your arguing misters, but he thinks you’re missing the point.~”

The soldiers ignored him -- something he’d accepted completely. Instead, they kept talking amongst themselves, and it took Zeno leaning up to the bars to finally get their attention. He grinned, still talking completely normally.

“It’s true that Zeno’s mostly just a pack mule. He’s not good for much else, otherwise.” The words didn’t seem to give the soldiers much more of an explanation, and they continued ignoring him. At the very least, they did until he finished his statement. “Since Zeno’s normal, though, he can blend in with crowds, right? Hears things.”

“An informant!”

The realization dawned on all three of them, and they seemed to comment at the same time. Zeno just grinned, leaning back and letting them keep talking amongst themselves. He wouldn’t tell them much more. Sure, they asked, but most of things were things he didn’t want to answer, especially questions involving the Hungry Bunch.

Of course, his refusal to answer any more questions didn’t earn him much more food. It was hard on him, but he’d been through worse so he was confident enough that he could handle it. Still, he was definitely exhausted, mentally. He could only take so many of these harsh questions and verbal abuse. On top of that, the thought that he’d returned to the castle he loved so much, being treated as a criminal, wasn’t incredibly inspiring.

He was able to stay strong despite the situation, though. After everything he’d been through, he’d built up a lot of mental fortitude. Besides that, Lord Tae-jun would occasionally come down to give the soldiers busy work, and while they were gone he and the young lord would have small conversations. Tae-jun would even occasionally slip him small bits of food.

“I’m amazed with you,” he commented one such time, as he gave Zeno a small plate of food he’d managed to sneak in from the kitchens, “For a kid like you to be able to handle something like this is pretty amazing.”

“Why thank you!~” He commented, happily taking the extra food and trying to eat as quickly as he could. He didn’t want to be caught, if the guards came back, only pausing to speak. “Like Zeno said, he tries to stay optimistic. Hard times are happening all over the kingdom, after all. Zeno’s just one of many.”

“You really are a mature kid...” The young lord commented, occasionally watching over his shoulders to make sure the guards weren’t coming back. “I could buy you being an informant for the group. You seem well-informed.”

“Zeno traveled all over the place before joining the Hungry Bunch,” he commented between another bite of food. Ah, the taste and smell of the food was so much better after not having eaten in so long! “So he knows a lot about the things that happened during King Il’s reign. Though, really Zeno’s not anything like an informant. He just came up with something so they wouldn’t doubt his story. Don’t tell them that, though.~”

At the end of his statement he grinned and passed the boy the plate leaning back up against the wall. Tae-jun took the plate back, quickly hiding it again as he looked for the guards again. “If you know so much, you should make use of it. Of course, I won’t tell them -- but perhaps Yona would be happy to have you as an informant?”

“That may be the case,” Zeno commented, “but the miss is pretty stubborn. Besides that, she tends to know where she wants to go and what she wants to do, so none of Zeno’s information would be much use, you know?”

“I guess I know what you mean,” Tae-jun commented, “She seems to have changed a lot from her days in the palace.”

“Zeno thinks your affection for the miss is really cute, mister.~” The scarlet blush across his face when he brought it up was cute, too. “Zeno thinks it’s admirable you still like her, even after she’s changed so much. For some people, that may be a problem.”

“Well it’s true she’s changed… Become a bit more tomboyish, perhaps,” Tae-jun commented, “But I think she’s still the kind, beautiful princess I knew. There’s something amazing about how strong she’s gotten, too.”

Zeno couldn’t help chuckling a bit. He didn’t say anything, but he couldn’t help but think this young love was incredibly adorable.

“You seem fond of Yona, yourself.”

“Ah, Zeno is!~” He responded to the boy’s attempt at dodging the topic, happily allowing it to change. “Zeno thinks the miss is very cute. Though, Zeno’s perhaps more like a protective older brother than anything.” Or, well… Perhaps more like a father.

“I don’t see how you can protect her if you’re such an average kid.”

“Zeno didn’t say he protected her, he just said he was protective! Those are two completely different things, young lord.” He chuckled, unable to hold it back at the young man’s bemused expression. At least, he was laughing until the young lord panicked and stood up.

“Quiet!” He whispered, “They’re coming.”

The soldiers came in as he'd said that, and Zeno leaned against the wall as he had been before. The soldiers and the young lord had a small exchange, and he left as the guards took their places in front of his cell again.

There would be a few small exchanges like that over the next few days between him and the young lord, and they really helped Zeno keep his mind off of the past. They talked about the young lord, Yona, and whatever else Zeno could think of to talk about.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t keep the past out of his thoughts forever. He was sure Hiryuu-sama was rolling over in his grave at the thought of Zeno being tossed in the dungeons. At the very least, he was doing it to protect the miss -- so he was sure Hiryuu-sama was more angry at the soldiers than him.

He often found himself folding his hands across his medallion when the guards weren’t looking. There wasn’t much conversation between them, outside of the guard’s unrelenting questions, which he refused to answer.

He’d tried to turn his brain off for the most part, except for when he was talking with Tae-jun. It turned back on on its own, however, when he heard a hubbub headed his way. He glanced up, seeing a group of soldiers and hearing the word “king” muttered amongst them. And, in fact, in the middle, and walking towards the cell now, was a young man Zeno took to be the king in question.

His eyes locked with the young king’s, and Zeno’s face froze in shock.

“H...”

_Hiryuu-sama_. This boy looked exactly like him, and Zeno almost let his beloved king’s name slip his lips. Almost instantly, he bit his lip. He wasn’t sure if the young king had realized it, but if he did he’d completely ignored it. He motioned for the soldiers to give them some distance, and knelt down in front of the cell with a smile.

“Well, hello,” it was a much friendlier greeting than any of the soldiers, with a smile that caused Zeno’s heart to skip a beat, “So, I hear from the soldiers you’ve been referring to yourself as Zeno. That’s your name?”

He gave a small nod in response, a little uneasy having the young man smiling at him like this. It wasn’t the exact same smile as his king, but it was hard not to want to see him with the child having that face.

“I see… Well, I’m sure you know who I am?”

“Indeed… Ou-san.”

The guards didn’t seem happy with his slightly informal way of addressing the king. They’d even tried to draw their swords, but the young king had them put them away. At the very least, he didn’t seem to mind.

“You have a cute way of speaking,” he commented, “it’s hard to believe a boy like you is a bandit. Of course, I’ve heard everything from the soldiers before I sent them back to the Fire Tribe. I’d like to talk with you a little more, if you wouldn’t mind?”

It took Zeno a moment to answer. He was still lost in memories just seeing that smile, and he wasn't sure he'd be able to handle holding a proper conversation in this state. Still, he knew the king would want to talk with him. Perhaps try to get information on the miss and the others like the soldiers. He had to do his best to dodge certain topics, if he could.

“Of course, Zeno knows better than to say no,” he said, while still trying to seem childish. He wanted to make sure he wasn't seen as a threat as much as possible.  “Of course, what Zeno can say… That depends on what you want to talk about, Ou-san.”

“I expected as much,” he said nonchalantly, again having to defuse the anger of his guards. “You don’t need to worry. I’m not going to ask about your bandit group. I’m more interested in what other information you have to share.”

The soldiers seemed surprised at that, but Zeno just smiled in exchange to his conversation. “Well, Zeno will stick to what he said. He’d be happy to talk to you, but it depends on what you ask and what he can answer. If you don’t mind, Ou-san.”

“Delightful!” The dark blond’s smile spread even more, and the soldiers -- all except one tall, dark-haired man standing behind him, seemed completely caught off guard by the light-hearted conversation. “In that case… General Joo-doh?”

“Yes, your majesty?” It was the dark-haired man in question. Zeno could tell he was used to having this kind of conversation with the young king, as even at the strange request the boy was about to give, the man didn’t seem so much as a bit surprised.

“I’d like you to get a room ready. I’d like to have a word with him in private. If things go well, he’ll be staying there instead of this dingy old cell for a while.”

“Of course.”

He didn’t skip a beat, it seemed. The rest of the guards seemed completely taken aback. Of course, why wouldn’t they? To them, Zeno was a criminal. A bandit who deserved to be incarcerated in this cell. However, here the king was, pretty much giving him the pass to a probably small, but comfortable room for a _private conversation_.

He left after assuring he’d come back once the room was prepared. As soon as the young king waved goodbye, he turned to Zeno. It seemed lighthearted, but Zeno knew the look in those eyes. He was being observed.

“It's a shame a boy like you wound up mixed up with a bunch like that,” he commented, “I would have never pegged someone like you as a member of a criminal group. You seem like a nice boy.”

“Shame indeed, Ou-san,” he commented, “Unfortunately, desperate times call for desperate measures. Zeno didn’t have anywhere else to go.” He gave a small smile and shrugged, giving a small laugh. “It’s just how the kingdom is these days.”

“Well, I guess that’s true,” he said. To Zeno’s surprise, he even reached through the bars, placing his hand on Zeno’s head affectionately. It seemed as if he felt like he was speaking to a child, and perhaps he did. Zeno was pretty small, even for seventeen. Let alone what he assumed to be over two thousand -- give or take a few years. It wouldn't be the first time he was considered a child -- even the Hungry Bunch saw him that way at times. “You must have been through a lot.”

Before Zeno could say anything in response, the general came in. In a sense, Zeno was happy. He was afraid that, thanks to that one simple affectionate motion, he might have stuttered a sentence. Once the king's eyes were on the general, Zeno ran his fingers through his hair for a moment. The warmth from king Soo-won's hand was still there... It was so nostalgic.

“Ah, wonderful. So the room is ready?”

“Yes, your majesty.”

The man smiled, nodding. “Excellent. General, help Zeno-kun to the room. I’ll be there momentarily. I have a little work to clear up from our visit to Chi’shin.”

With that, the king left, and Zeno was left with guards and the general. The general helped him out of most of his restraints. Unfortunately, he was forced to keep the restraints around his wrists, which were quite painful. Most of the other restraints were allowed off, however, as he was pulled out of the cell. 

“Honestly… There’s no end to what kind of things he’ll come up with.”

“You’re very close to Ou-san, aren’t you?” He commented, laughing slightly at the general’s begrudging adherence to the king’s orders.

“More like I’m used to this by now. I’m his general and personal guard, after all.”

“This happens a lot?”

“Not this specifically, but… Sometimes it’s hard to understand his motivations.” The man gave a small sigh, shaking his head as he pulled Zeno along the halls. “He always has them, though.”

“Hm, Ou-san is very clever,” Zeno said with a grin, “Zeno can tell. He’s smart and observant!~”

General Joo-doh seemed surprised that Zeno had even notice that. As they got to the room, he gave a small groan, getting Zeno inside as they waited for the king to arrive. “Yes, and I’m starting to wonder if we don’t have two of him in the castle now.”

Zeno laughed as he was left in the room. Perhaps because he and the king  _were_ indeed very similar, but it seemed that General Joo-doh had already caught onto the fact that Zeno was also much more clever than he appeared.

“Well, either way I don’t think you have to worry too much. If he sees fit to have a room like this prepared, he either likes you or has a use for you… And it’s probably the latter.”

“Actually, it's a bit of both.” The moment the king's voice came through the door, the general stood at attention. Soo-won came in, quickly closing the door behind him and motioning to the general to stay. Apparently it would be the three of them in this conversation, but it didn't seem like any other guards would be there. "I can't deny having taken a bit of a liking to him, but more than that... Zeno-kun, I'd like to have a word with you about a few things."

Zeno smiled almost as brightly as the young king, nodding. The general was right about one thing -- two could play King Soo-won’s game. “Of course, Ou-san. You were nice enough to let Zeno out of that cell, he wants to be able to return the favor, in a sense. Though, Zeno's not sure how much help he can be."

"I'm sure you can be of help, Zeno-kun," came the quick response, as Soo-won sat down, and motioned for Zeno and the general to do the same. "So, let's get started, shall we?"


	3. Castle Arrest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At long last -- a new chapter! Once I got the inspiration to work on it, it was actually a lot of fun. With this, though, I think all the setup is complete. We pretty much have the basic story behind us, so now we can get into the really interesting stuff! Hopefully.

“So, Zeno-kun, let’s have a few words.”

As serious as the atmosphere in the room was, Zeno and the young king were rather relaxed. Zeno was laid back against the wall, occasionally moving his arms around in attempts to loosen up the restraints that were kept on his wrists.

“Right. So… You’d have something you’d like Zeno to do, right?”

He smiled at the young king as he figured he’d gotten the restraints as loose as he could. He glanced around the small, bare bones room, quickly snapping back to attention when the general seemed to be getting a bit testy with his wandering eyes. Soo-won seemed to be amused by it, and even chuckled.

“Don’t mind him too much. He’s a bit testy when it comes to certain things. Feel free to look around. After all… This room is going to be your cell from now on.”

“What!?”

Though the general was the only one that made the outburst, both he and the Ouryuu were looking at the young king in a confused manner. Meanwhile, the young king in question was just staring at them like _their_ reaction was weird.

“Is something wrong?”

Honestly, Zeno wasn’t even sure he knew how to respond. There were, quite honestly, a lot of things wrong with this. Even Zeno, as the captive, was tempted to call out the king for being too careless with him. Luckily, he didn’t have to, as the General did it for him.

“Is _something wrong_!? No offense, your majesty, but do you think you should be so lenient with a _criminal_?”

Soo-won only gave a shrug in response. He had that smile that Zeno knew all too well -- it almost mirrored his own. It was seemingly carefree and easygoing. Of course, he knew, probably even more than the General who had been following this king for some time, what was behind that smile.

_What was he planning…?_

“It shouldn’t be a problem,” he commented, “After all, it’s true he’s a criminal, but he’s practically harmless. The soldiers pointed out that he seemed like a normal boy, and he hasn’t made any moves to escape, since.”

“That’s not the point!”

Jooh-doh was more than a bit upset. Of course, Zeno understood that. As general, it would be this man’s job to keep the king safe, and make sure potential troublemakers (like Zeno himself) were kept under guard, and dealt with accordingly.

“Oh it’ll be fine,” Soo-won commented, “It’s not like he’ll be completely unguarded. There will be guards stationed outside the door, and security in the palace will be increased to make sure he doesn’t get away.”

_Of course,_ with a clever boy like this he should have guessed he wouldn’t be cut that good a deal.

“Besides, if I’m going to make use of his information, I don’t want to keep him trapped in a cell. He’s just a boy who got mixed in with the wrong crowd, consider this his chance to prove his loyalty to the kingdom.”

And now, he _really_ couldn’t afford to make any mistakes. The king’s eyes were on him, and Zeno wasn’t exactly sure what he could do but go along with whatever the king was planning. Besides, he wouldn’t just let the words “prove his loyalty to the kingdom” go.

“That being said, Zeno-kun, I’ll be counting on you!”

He gave a grin with that line, giving no sign of what exactly he’d be “counting on Zeno” for. That being said, Zeno decided to play along and returned one childish smile with another. Meanwhile, General Joo-doh looked like he’d given up at this point, and was sitting still and silent as he watched over the conversation.

“Zeno will do his best, Ou-san!” He chimed, “That being said… What are you counting on Zeno for?”

“Ah, yes, about that. I’ll be asking you to serve as an informant of sorts. You’ll be providing information on the state of the kingdom and any groups you know who may be a danger to it.”

As soon as the king said those last few words, Zeno turned his head away. Was he after information on the Hungry Bunch? Did he know about the miss? That she was their leader?  

“Zeno’s not going to give you anything on the Hungry Bunch,” he said obstinately. He didn’t look towards the king or his general until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

When he finally looked, the king was smiling gently back at him. He was trying to be reassuring? He kept his obstinate point on his face, absolutely determined not to give any information on the miss or the others to him. What surprised him was when the other spoke.

“I’m not going to ask you for information on the Dark Dragon and the Happy Hungry Bunch.”

As surprised as Zeno was, the effect of how reassuring Soo-won was trying to be was completely foiled by the end of the sentence. As soon as he mentioned the Hungry Bunch’s name, the king started giggling uncontrollably, even trying to hide his laughter with his robe’s sleeve.

And, as you’d expect, general Joo-doh wasn’t exactly happy.

“Your majesty, please dignify yourself in such an important conversation!”

The king just kept giggling though. “I’m sorry, Joo-doh,” he commented, “It’s just… It’s just an amusing name. It’s hard not to laugh at.”

Zeno gave a small pout, turning away again. This time it was a bit more childishly then when he’d done it before, and for one reason.

“Zeno hopes you mean it in a good way. Zeno was the one that gave the Hungry Bunch their name -- well, “The Happy Hungry Bunch” part anyway.”

The giggling intensified after his comment, and the king had given up on any kind of seriousness for the time being. He’d gone from sitting across from Zeno to sitting next to him, and before Zeno could even react, a hand was being playfully dragged through his hair.

“I should have known!~ You have such a unique way of speaking, I should have expected you should have had a unique naming sense. It’s adorable!”

“Your majesty!” Joo-doh called out, exasperatedly. He obviously wasn’t happy with the king’s gradual fall into silliness, and wanted things to return to their serious nature. Perhaps, Zeno thought, he should give the disgruntled general some assistance.

He chuckled a bit, but gently grabbed Soo-won’s wrist and removed his hand from amongst his hair. The king looked slightly displeased, but Zeno chuckled and waved it off.

“Weren’t we talking about something, Ou-san?” Zeno gave a small chuckle as the king just pouted and returned to sitting across from him. “You’re telling the truth, though, aren’t you? You’re not interested in the Hungry Bunch at all?”

The king nodded, smiling. “Exactly. There are more important things to worry about, and if anything the Hungry… Bunch...” He paused in his sentence to chuckle a bit more before continuing, “has been helping the Fire Tribe. We’ll leave them be for now. In exchange, I want you to give me whatever other information you have.”

Zeno’s eyes darted from the king to the general, who seemed to have calmed down since they were back into serious conversation. He fidgeted with his restraints a little more, before finally giving a small nod. He had little choice, for the time being, but to go along with it. If he didn’t, he risked “death”, and revealing his powers and the miss’ hand to the young king.

“Very well, Ou-san. Zeno will give you what information he has.”

Soo-won gave a small smile, returning from his serious personality back to the one that had been giggling at the name “Happy Hungry Bunch”. When the king relaxed, the entire atmosphere of the room seemed to be relaxed. In a sense, it was a bit of a relief to Zeno.

“Excellent! With that decided on,” Soo-won turned to Joo-doh and smiled. “Joo-doh, can you please get some new clothes arranged for Zeno-kun? I’m sure he could use some, what with being stuck in the dungeons and mistreated by the guards for so long. I’m sure he could use new ones. Also… Would you mind freeing him from the restraints? As long as he’s under guard, he shouldn’t cause too much trouble. I want to talk with Zeno-kun for a little longer.”

Reluctantly, the general replied and freed Zeno from the restraints holding his wrists -- the only ones left after he’d been taken out of the dungeons. He gave a quick bow to the king afterwards, before leaving. Presumably to go get the clothes the king had asked him for.

The moment the general left, though, the serious atmosphere came back. Zeno found the king’s eyes directly on him when he looked. His face was still friendly for the most part, but the atmosphere surrounding him was completely different from when they were discussing his becoming an informant.

“What did you want to talk to Zeno about, Ou-san?”

Zeno decided to start off the conversation. He didn’t know what the king wanted, but it was obvious by the way he was practically staring a hole into him that it was serious.

“Actually, Zeno-kun, I have a few more things I’d like to ask you. They’re of… A slightly more personal nature, though.”

“Personal nature?”

There was an almost nostalgic tone in the king’s voice. He was looking Zeno straight in the eye, yet it somehow seemed like he was thinking of something else. Something about him seemed kind of distant.

“Well, Zeno’s happy to answer, depending on what you do with the information. He’s supposed to be your informant now, after all.”

A sort of melancholic smile was on the king’s face, and for a moment his eyes darted away from Zeno’s. He was quiet for a while, almost as if he was second-guessing if he should ask. After seeming to battle with himself for a few moments, the words came to him.

“It’s about the leader you’re so loyal to,” he commented. Zeno had a feeling he knew where this was going. So, he wasn’t at all surprised at what the king asked when he finally decided to meet Zeno’s eyes again. “I’ve been wondering for a while now, but… Is the leader of that “Dark Dragon and the Hungry Bunch” bandit group… Is it Princess Yona?”

Zeno paused for a moment. The boy was definitely perceptive. Had he somehow given it away? Or perhaps the young lord, Tae-jun, had said something that gave him the idea. Either way, it was obvious he wasn’t going to be able to wriggle out of this too easily.

“You said this is of a personal nature,” Zeno commented, “Can Zeno take that to mean that it’s idle curiosity?” He guessed it didn’t matter much if he knew. Even if he did know that their leader was the princess, he didn’t know where she was. Zeno wasn’t going to tell him, either.

“Of course,” the king reassured him, “I promise, I won’t do anything. I couldn’t if I wanted to. The Hungry Bunch group has been nearly impossible to catch, after all.”

“You have a point,” Zeno commented proudly. If anything, he was confident that those children would evade capture, but he wasn’t going to say anything about where they were. “Alright then, Ou-san. Well… Zeno’s not what sure other to say then ‘yes’, really. He’s pretty sure you saw that coming.”

The king visibly relaxed at his words. “I saw it coming, but somehow it’s good to know. I guess Hak is with her?”

Zeno just gave a small nod. “The miss and mister are both fine.”

“It’s not that I was worried,” Soo-won commented. “Like I said after you asked, it’s just idle curiosity. I don’t have time to be worried about them, especially when _I’m_ the one that drove us apart.”

Zeno understood what he was saying. It was next to impossible to bring the three together again, but at the same time he didn’t want either of the three to suffer because of it. The miss and mister had found their own way of moving forward… but what about the young king? He moved in a little closer, placing a hand on Soo-won’s shoulder affectionately.

“I suppose so,” He gave a small smile at the confused look the king shot him. “It’s true that my loyalty is primarily to the miss. That much isn’t going to change, I can assure you. That doesn’t mean I’m against you either. Zeno’s loyalty is to the miss and her kingdom! He just wants to make it a better place. He’ll follow the miss for it, but if you’re trying to make it better, he wants to help.”

Soo-won just laughed at his statement, giving a small nod. It was strange… Zeno knew that the miss and mister might not be happy knowing he was getting along with him so well, but he couldn’t bring himself to hate someone who was trying to do so much good. Of course… The fact that his resemblance to Hiryuu-sama was uncanny definitely wasn’t helping.

“You’re amazing, Zeno-kun.” At Zeno’s flushed face, he just smiled and ruffled Zeno’s head. “You really are. It’s hard to believe you’re younger than me. I know you’re here under guard, but I’m looking forward to the knowledge you’ll be able to give us.”

“Zeno’s nothing special, really,” he commented with a small chuckle. “Thanks for complimenting him, though. It made Zeno happy!”

Soo-won just smiled, standing up and moving towards the door. Apparently their conversation was over for now. As he reached the door though, he stopped and turned back to the Ouryuu.

“I’ll be taking lunch soon. I’ll talk to Joo-doh about going with you to the bath once he’s found a change of clothes for you, as I’d like us to have a word about more important matters over lunch, alright?”

Zeno nodded, grinning brightly. “Of course! Zeno’s really hungry! Though… He supposes anyone would be after being locked up in a dungeon for so long.”

“Very well then, I shall see you at lunch.” The king simply smiled, giving a professional wave and closing the door behind him.

Which gave Zeno time to slump against the wall and let out a sigh of relief. He would have collapsed on the small sleeping mat in the room -- but he was kind of filthy from the dungeons and didn’t want the dirt getting on the blankets.  He reached a hand up to weave its way gently through his own hair. Warmth was still radiating from the king’s affectionate gesture.

Was this really okay…? There were so many memories in this castle… What if he messed up? Besides that, he had to get back to the miss and the other dragons as soon as possible. Of course, it was impossible currently, as he’d be under heavy guard for a while.  

He really got himself into a mess… didn’t he?

The door opened abruptly, and Zeno quickly clamored to stand up and greet the general that had just walked into his room. He took an intake of breath, smiling.

“Ah, hello there, General-san. I take it Ou-san talked with you?”

“Yes,” Joo-doh said matter-of-factly. His expression hadn’t changed much from when they were talking earlier. It was curt and polite -- much like a general should be, Zeno guessed. “That being said, I’ll escort you to the baths, and you’ll be kept under guard while you prepare to take lunch with his majesty. Now come with me.”

Zeno just smiled and nodded, prancing along the halls of the palace after the general. All the while trying to keep the memories away. Yet, he couldn’t help but noticing the parts of the castle that were still the same, even after thousands of years. The areas that had been renovated -- ah, did the tree he used to relax under with Abi get replaced? Well, it probably died, didn’t it?

“His majesty seems rather fond of you.”

The sudden words jolted Zeno out of his fantasies. Though the general wasn’t looking back at him, he made some quick, flustered hand motions with his words by habit.

“Ah, not at all, General-san! I mean… According to what you’ve said, Ou-san is like that a lot, right?”

“Something about the way he interacts with you is different,” he commented, “besides… You two seem to be cut from similar cloth, so I’m not surprised.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Zeno tried to move a little closer to the general to get a better look at his expression. Joo-doh just kept paces ahead of him though, intentionally making sure Zeno trailed a certain distance behind him.

“You act goofy and friendly, but you keep people at a distance. It’s a lot like his majesty.”

Ah… This one may be a bit sharper than Zeno gave him credit for.

“... I don’t like saying this to someone who was part of a bandit group, but get along with his majesty.”

Eh?

“Um… Weren’t you of the opinion that Zeno was dangerous?”

“I still am.”

The general stopped in his tracks, causing the dumbstruck Zeno to gently bump into his back. He turned quickly, and glanced down at Zeno. He was big and intimidating, as a general should be, but Zeno could tell there was something more gentle about him than usual.

“As a general and his majesty’s personal guard, I want to keep you under close watch. As his majesty’s _guardian_ , however… I think it might be a good thing for him to have someone his age around. Especially one that seems so much like him. I’ll be keeping an eye on you, don’t get me wrong. My first priority is protecting his majesty… But sometimes that means having to turn a blind eye to something that could be helpful for him.”

Zeno’s face flushed slightly. He wasn’t exactly sure what to say here. Did he want to be friends with Soo-won? It was hard to say. If he tried to make friends… That would only make things harder if the miss officially declared him her enemy.

For now though… Maybe it wouldn’t hurt?

“Well… Zeno will try to get along with him.”

The general just nodded, turning around and walking again. “Anyway, come along. We need to get you presentable, if you’re going to be having lunch with his majesty.”

“Right, right!~” Zeno chirped happily, trailing after the general. “Let’s get along ourselves, Sir!”

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself! I told you, I’m keeping an eye on you!”

“Okay!~”

It couldn’t hurt… Right? He was probably going to be stuck here for a while. He’d rather get along with the king and his general than be enemies if he was going to be here an extended period of time. As long as he remembered where his real loyalties were, it wouldn’t be a problem.

Besides… He wasn’t about to forget his loyalty to the miss that easily.


	4. Informant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Zeno finds himself at lunch with the young king, Soo-won, he also finds himself having to shake free of his prying curiosity. It's a battle of another sort, as Zeno must take effort to keep himself from seeming suspicious in the eyes of Soo-won and his general, Joo-doh. From this, though, it seems Zeno might come to a decision of his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been how long since I put up a Captivity chapter? Um... Well there's nothing I can really say to make up for it, but I profoundly apologize. You guys have given the series so much love, and your beautiful comments and the kudos this story has gotten has absolutely baffled me. 
> 
> I'm so glad to be getting all of this support for the work! It's definitely unique in a lot of ways, but I'm glad that its uniqueness seems to have attracted a number of loving fans to it! I'll do my best to continue, perhaps a little more regularly if at all possible, to post chapters! Please do forgive me if a break this long happens again, but I absolutely want to do my best on this for all of you, so rest assured I have no intention to quit while I'm ahead, in this case! 
> 
> Thank you again for all your support and I hope you enjoy chapter 4.

After being in the dungeons for so long, it felt really nice to be in the bath. It was a shame he didn’t have more time to relax, but he doubted the guards would give it to him anyway. As such, the Ouryuu found himself rushing through his attempt of cleaning up in order to be presentable. It had been some time since he had to worry about such a thing, and was quite a different situation, so he found himself more than a little anxious.

Despite what some may think, that young king was a dangerous opponent when it came to a battle of wits. The upcoming lunch was going to be just that, with each of them trying to get information they wanted without giving away too much. So as he dried himself off, he found himself thinking of a plan of attack for what was upcoming.

The general had brought clothes for him that were nicer than anything he’d worn in a long time. Well, he wore mostly normal clothes, so even a castle attendant’s robes could be nicer than what he’d worn before. After changing into the pale green robes, he draped his dragon medallion around his neck. His scarves had been damaged from his stay in the dungeons and treatment by the soldiers, so he couldn’t wear them anymore. Honestly, this was going to take some getting used to.

Once he was changed, he worked on drying out the lingering moisture in his hair. Due to its length and unruly attitude, it could be rather hard to dry after bathing. He’d just managed to finish drying it when the general had come in yet again.

“His Majesty is summoning you now,” the general responded, getting straight to the topic at hand, “Get a move on, kid.”

“Ah.~ Zeno’s coming!” he called, tossing the towel aside. He quieted down a bit at the stern look he got from the general, straightening up. He knew this wasn’t a situation to be playful in, but to an extent he could use that. He knew his limits when it came to this kind of situation, but in the battle of words that was to come, he’d want to make sure his opponent’s guard was as low as possible.

“For the record, if you step too far out of line, the guard won’t be against escorting you out,” the general spoke up, striding along the hall at a brisk pace as if he just expected Zeno to keep up (which he barely managed), “Please act according to the honor you’re being graced with in this situation.”

_You say that_ , Zeno found himself thinking, _but I’m technically still considered a prisoner right now, right?_ He couldn’t exactly bring himself to quip that in exchange, though, so he just gave a small nod in return and stayed quiet.

As they got closer to the hall that would be used for his lunch with the King, the general slowed his pace. Zeno did so as well, to match, clasping his hands around his medallion. Being back in the castle was more than a little awkward, but he couldn’t show it.

_This is your first time here_ , he mentally urged himself. _First time. First time._ As the doors were open, he did his best to put on a look of amazement that would suit a boy his appeared age. He couldn’t let on at all that he was familiar, even if he was bringing up old memories of when he and the other dragons had circled around the hall table to eat with King Hiryuu. He had to shake the images that were forming in his head. They’d cause trouble during his exchange with the current king, after all.

Finally releasing his grip on his medallion, he followed in after the general. As expected, there were a lot of guards here, so they wouldn’t be able to talk too freely. He’d be being kept an eye on as well, so he’d have to watch what he said.

“Ah, it’s fine Joo-doh,” he managed to get out of his thoughts just in time to catch the king saying. It appeared the General had been trying to escort him to a seat a safe distance from the king, who was motioning to a nearer one instead. “With all the guards here, I doubt he’ll do anything, and it will be easier to talk if he’s nearby, right?”

“If you insist, Your Majesty,” the general conceded, obviously not happy with the idea, “however I do wish you’d take your own safety into consideration.”

“I simply have confidence the guard is doing their job in ensuring he can’t do anything dangerous,” king Soo-won quipped back, smiling.

While to most it would seem he was being too careless, Zeno knew right away. The king was trying to utilize the same strategy he was -- acting carefree in order to lower his guard. From the glance the king gave him for half a second before shooting the same casual smile and patting a seat nearby, he knew he was going to have information pried from him as much as possible.

Well then, he couldn’t lower his guard that easily, could he?

He exchanged a similarly casual smile with the boy in front of him, before respectfully giving a small bow and walking up to sit down nearby. He had to be on his best behavior for the guards, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t still act “his age”, so to speak.

“I’m sure this is a bit intimidating, Zeno-kun,” Soo-won spoke first, “so perhaps we should start a little more casually, before we get to business?”

“Thank you very much for your consideration, Ou-san,” Zeno responded quickly, trying to keep a blend of his usual informality along with keeping his behavior in check, “However there can’t be much to talk about with an average joe like Zeno, right?”

“Oh, not at all!” As he shot down Zeno’s attempt to keep him from prying into personal things too much, he gave a casual shake of his head. “In fact, I can’t deny being a bit curious about you, so I was wanting to ask you a few things, anyway.”

“In that case,” he found himself forced to concede, “Perhaps starting a bit easier would make things a little easier.”

The king was giving him a playful smile, motioning for attendants to bring tea to start their lunch and conversation. As Zeno had expected, this one would be a difficult match for him. Perhaps that was part of the reason the upcoming conversation was a bit alluring to him, as well, though. It wasn’t every day he found someone similar enough to him to have a partner in dances of words like this.

The guard seemed completely oblivious to the fact that the battle of wits had already started, however. Of course, when the young king was just casually sipping tea it was kind of hard for most normal people to really tell.

“Well, let me not beat around the bush,” the king started with a smile. “Zeno-kun, what lead you to become part of the Hungry Bunch? You don’t seem like the kind of boy that would get involved with bandits.”

“Zeno would say ‘looks can be deceiving’, Ou-san,” Zeno responded, respectfully sipping the tea that was given to him now that the king had started, “but he’s pretty sure you took that into consideration. As for how he wound up with the Hungry Bunch… As he said earlier, Zeno had nowhere else to go, and they promised to look after him. In this day and age, that kind of thing is common, yes?”

“It’s unfortunate,” the king conceded with a nod, “but true. A lot of children and young adults wind up mixed up with bandits because their villages are ransacked or hit by a plague. So that means you’ve lost your family, Zeno-kun?”

“Well, the Hungry Bunch is kind of like Zeno’s family!” Zeno responded with a smile, “Which is why he doesn’t want to tell you much about them, Ou-san. Though, at the time, Zeno can’t exactly say where they are, anyway.”

“That’s understandable,” Soo-won reassured him, “At the moment, I want to know more about _you_ , Zeno-kun. After all, though it’s technically to prove your loyalty to the crown, you’ll be acting as my informant for a while. The more I know about you, the better.”

Unfortunately, he couldn’t really let that happen. He wanted the king to see him as trustworthy, of course. At the moment, he was far from a threat for the child, and vice versa. He’d be happy to help, but king Soo-won knowing more about him was something he still wanted to avoid. His fingers made contact with his medallion again, casually batting it from side to side as he watched Soo-won.

“That medallion is quite something,” the young king continued, having taken notice of the way Zeno had been playing with it. “That’s the kingdom’s crest, right? How did you happen across something like that?”

_And there it went_. He had a feeling questions about his medallion would come up, but he couldn’t bring himself to part with it. Even if he could, it would find it’s way back to him eventually so there was no point. So, he’d just worn it around his neck in plain sight. He knew it was bound to come up eventually, but this soon in the talk had caught him by surprise.

Zeno found his breath catching in his throat for a moment. He tried his best not to show it, though, and he guessed he did a pretty good job of it since he wasn’t asked anything. Keeping his casual smile, he placed his hands firmly around the medallion he was being questioned about and came up with a story off the top of his head.

“Ah, well, you could say it’s something of a family heirloom,” Zeno responded, barely managing to make it sound casual, “Zeno’s not really sure how far it goes back, but it’s probably just a replica of something important, right?”

“That’s a bit of an interesting story,” he found himself being grilled right off the bat, “I wonder what your family was like back in the day, to get something like that. Even if it’s a replica, having an item with the kingdom’s crest on it as an heirloom means your family was pretty important in the past, right?”

“Zeno’s not sure,” Zeno tried to lie through his teeth, “but his family was pretty much a bunch of shepherds before, well you know…. So even if we were important before, that’s not really the case now.”

“A shepherd boy, huh?” Soo-won said with a small chuckle, “I guess that’s why you give off this kind of fluffy, down to earth nature.”

“Somehow….” Zeno commented with a shaky chuckle, “Zeno’s not sure if he’s supposed to be a compliment, or if you’re teasing him.”

“It’s a compliment!” The young king insisted. “You’re easy to get along with, and relaxing to be around. Your hair’s really fluffy too -- like a little sheep.”

“Zeno’s pretty sure that last part wasn’t necessary….” He commented, trying not to sound too informal.

It was pretty obvious, at this point, most of the guards had given up on the idea that this was a serious chat. Outside of the general standing behind him, most of the other guards didn’t seem to be paying this much attention. Only Joo-doh seemed to realize that there was a lot more to this silly banter than met the eye; they were sizing each other up, in a sense.

The other soldiers, however, probably just thought they were being silly.

“So, Ou-san,” Zeno commented, simply facing forward as the lunch started in earnest, “You want to use Zeno as an informant, correct? To prove his loyalty to the kingdom. What kind of information do you want, exactly?”

“Hm, at the moment information about bandits or other such groups that are causing trouble,” the young king replied. He started eating first, obviously as Zeno knew it was proper conduct to wait in this situation. “Particularly around the Fire and Earth tribes, since they seem to be having bandit trouble.”

“Hm...” Zeno wracked his brain for some information. He’d been traveling with the miss and the others for a while before being caught, of course, and then he’d spent time in the dungeons. He wasn’t exactly sure how up-to-date his information was, but he could try.

“Zeno just asks you keep in mind, Ou-san,” he started, “that after being trapped in that dungeon for so long, he’s not sure how recent his information will be...”

“That’s quite alright,” the king said with a smile, “If it’s just from your time in the dungeons, it shouldn’t be too out of date, I don’t think. Just tell me what you know.”

“Alright then!” Zeno responded a bit more cheerfully. Now that their gauging of each other was over, it was definitely high time they got to business. The sooner he could prove himself useful to the young king the better, perhaps it would get the guard to relax a bit.

“For starters,” Zeno began, more content to sip tea than eat, “In the Earth Tribe, there’s a bandit group that’s been harassing a port town, right?”

“That’s right,” the king replied, “It seems the Earth Tribe’s soldiers have been having problems with them. They always just kind of disappear by the time the soldiers get there.”

“That’s them, that’s them!” Zeno responded, giving a nod. “Apparently they’re using some empty house as a hideout. It has some kind of passage to an area further up the coast that the soldiers don’t check. While the Hungry Bunch was passing through the Earth Tribe a while back, we saw it. Their hideout on the coast.”

“Ah, that’s pretty good intelligence!” the young king praised him. “We’ll certainly have to look into that, if it’s truly the case. If it turns out well, I’ll get more information from you, and so the cycle continues. Until we know for sure you’re trustworthy, we’ll probably follow this pattern.”

“Understood!” Zeno responded. He gave the king a mock salute, smiling.

“By the way, Zeno-kun,” the king went off the conversation rail, “You should probably eat, you know? You’ve just been sitting there sipping tea the entire time. You must be hungry, after being stuck in the dungeons, right?”

“Ah… Yes...” Zeno said, getting a bit flustered, “Zeno was just a bit beside himself is all… He’s not sure how to be respectful, and such.”

He held up his hands defensively, giving a shaky smile. Well, though he said that, he was actually lying through his teeth. The real reason he hadn’t eaten was mostly because he’d been more preoccupied with the conversation and keeping the boy from prying too much information from him.

“You were summoned to eat lunch with me, so please feel free,” Soo-won spoke through a smile, motioning to the food laid out in front of them. “After all, from today you’ll probably be brought food in your room, so you should take advantage of the opportunity.”

“In that case,” Zeno said, clapping his hands together with a smile, “Zeno will respectfully take you up on your kind offer, Ou-san.”  
  
The feeling of the soldiers’ eyes on him made Zeno a bit uneasy, he couldn’t deny. Moreso than the soldiers, though, was king Soo-won’s piercing gaze. It looked like the boy was trying to stare right through him to see his true intentions. This boy was certainly different from the miss and mister, his two childhood friends. He was almost dangerously clever, Zeno found himself thinking.

Yet at the same time… He managed to give off the kind of reassuring nature that Zeno knew from the miss and Hiryuu-sama.

“Well then, Zeno-kun,” the boy in question spoke up as he was finishing eating, “I have to take some action in accordance to the information you gave me, so we’ll end our lunch here. Joo-doh, if you wouldn’t mind, please escort him back to the room we’ll be keeping him in.”

“Of course, your majesty,” the general gave a bow as he spoke, motioning for Zeno to follow after him, “Come with me, then. The castle will be getting busy, soon.”

“Ah, yes, sir!” Zeno stood up, following after the general as they left the hall.

The walk was quiet for the most part. The general wasn’t much of one for conversation, of course. Zeno was pretty sure, though, that it was mostly because he still wasn’t entirely trusted. The general had told him to try to get along with Ou-san, probably mostly because they were so similar, but he was still keeping an eye on him it seemed.

He was quickly ushered back into the room he’d be being kept in without hardly a word. Perhaps that was why hearing the general’s voice so suddenly had shocked him so much.

“For the record,” he’d said, back turned to Zeno, “Though I served as the princess’ protector before, if she or Son Hak try to get in the king’s way, I won’t hesitate to cut them down. You’re loyal to Princess Yona, right? In which case, don’t you feel any animosity towards his majesty?”

“It’s true that Zeno’s loyalty is first and foremost to the miss,” Zeno responded, “However, as far as Zeno sees it, any animosity is something for the miss, mister, and Ou-san to sort out themselves. If the miss were to order it, Zeno would be prepared to do what he has to. However, at the moment Zeno doesn’t believe anything of the sort will happen.”

“How can you say that with such certainty?” The general turned, finally facing Zeno. The Ouryuu could see the conviction in the young man’s eyes. “At the current point in time, the animosity must surely lead them to see his majesty as an enemy. As their retainers, wouldn’t it be a similar situation between us?”

“The way Zeno sees it,” Zeno responded, now taking his turn to turn away from the general and glance out the one small window the room had, “both Ou-san and the miss are working to better the kingdom. He believes they both see and understand this fact, and if not then they’ll realize it at some time. If Zeno could help it… He doesn’t want people who love each other so much to have to be enemies.”

“... You really are an enigma.”

His response to the statement was simply to turn back towards Joo-doh with a smile. He could understand the general being baffled with his logic. After all, he was someone who was very close to all three of the young children, and as such got pulled into the conflict as well. Zeno… Was simply an observer from the sidelines.

“Perhaps,” Zeno found himself agreeing, “However Zeno’s just saying what he feels, mister General. At the moment, they’re all trying so desperately to change how things are in Kouka Kingdom. If at all possible, Zeno wants to help all of them however he can, since he loves the kingdom a lot, too.”

“I… Have to get to his majesty’s side,” the general bid Zeno farewell, closing the door to the room behind him.

With that, Zeno was alone again. It was quiet, the undoubted hustle and bustle of the castle outside barely registering in the little room that would probably be Zeno’s world for some time.

_Do your best then, Ou-san_ , he found himself thinking. After meeting him, Zeno couldn’t deny, he’d struck a bit of a protective nerve in the Ouryuu similar to the miss and mister. He felt like he could enjoy being the king’s informant for a while, at least until the guard slipped enough for him to get back to the Hungry Bunch. After all….  
  
A king trying so hard to protect his kingdom and people needed someone looking after him, too.


End file.
